A candidate from NAMRIA won the first ever search for DENR Milenyal ng Kalikasan (MnK) 2018. The search was part of the celebration of the founding anniversary of the DENR held at the amphitheater of the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center, Diliman, Quezon City on 04 July 2018.

The winning candidate was Ltjg. Kurt Louis A. Montemor, a licensed civil engineer and a commissioned officer assigned at the Survey Support Division of Hydrography Branch. The other DENR agencies represented by their respective candidates were Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB); DENR Central Office-Office of the Secretary, National Capital Region (NCR), Region III, and Region IVB-MIMAROPA; Forest Management Bureau (FMB); and Mines and Geosciences Bureau Central Office and Region IVA-CALABARZON.

The MnK 2018 consisted of three segments, namely: KaLIKHAsan Attire, IsYou ng Kalikasan Video, and WHOgot ng Kalikasan. In the KaLIKHAsan Attire, the candidates wore creative attires/costumes made of at least 75% reused, recycled, repurposed, or natural/organic materials. In the IsYou ng Kalikasan video and WHOgot ng Kalikasan segments, the candidates were seen in three-minute videos featuring the environmental issues/concerns of their respective offices where they also recited pieces or poems in Filipino (or “Taglish”) in relation to the identified environmental issues/concerns. A call-to-action campaign to take care and protect the environment was included in both the videos and the pieces/poems.

Aside from being MnK 2018, Lieutenant Montemor also won the People’s Choice Award. The other winners were DENR NCR, first runner-up; BMB, second runner-up; and FMB, third runner-up.

The day-long DENR celebration with the Ikaw, Ako, Tayo ang Kalikasan theme started out with a thanksgiving mass and was immediately followed by the opening remarks of DENR Undersecretary and Chief-of-Staff Rodolfo C. Garcia. DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, in his anniversary message, called for concerted efforts to protect the environment in the face of growing environmental challenges. He also pointed out that environmental protection is not the government’s responsibility alone because everyone has a part to play in protecting the environment from damage. In addition, he also gave updates on the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the island of Boracay, as well as the DENR’s accomplishments over the past years.

DENR Secretary Cimatu delivers his anniversary message.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was the special guest of honor in the event. He led the distribution/awarding of land titles to qualified residents from Metro Manila. The President, in his speech, reminisced on the happy memories he had with DENR Secretary Cimatu during the latter’s assignment in Davao when he was still in active service at the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He also took the opportunity to congratulate all the DENR employees for a job well done in protecting the environment.

President Duterte delivers his speech in the afternoon part of the program.

The awarding of the DENR Inter-Agency Sportsfest 2018 also took place during the program. NAMRIA Administrator, Usec. Peter N. Tiangco received the overall champion’s trophy in behalf of all the athletes. This is a three-peat achievement for NAMRIA which has been overall champion for the last three years (2016, 2017, and 2018).

NAMRIA Administrator Tiangco and the NAMRIA athletes flash the "No. 1" sign after receiving the

DENR Inter-Agency Sportsfest 2018 overall champion trophy.

Cash amounts, groceries, and appliances were raffled off during the day. Miss Earth Philippines 2018 Queens Zarah Bianca Saldua and Jean De Jesus served as hosts in the MnK part of the program.

NAMRIA produces topographic maps that are used as base maps for other thematic maps like land cover, land condition, land
classification, cadastral, etc. In addition, we have digital data of road maps available. This data comes from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).